Water Matters On World Water Day

By Raza Hasnain Naqvi

Water matters daily, not just on March 22, which is observed as World Water Day. More importantly, today is our chance to think deeper about water matters.

We know the value of water all right. Cooking, drinking, bathing, washing and in our religious rituals – water is vital in our life.

We have always been advised by our elders to drink enough water daily so that our body is well hydrated and healthy. Often, we manage to drink just 2-3 glasses of water in 24 hours, when we are told to drink 7-8 glasses. So, water is vital to our health.

Save the drop

We have also been told to save water, reuse water and even harvest rainwater by so many people. Whether on TV, on radio, at school, at home or on the Internet – the message of saving the precious drop of water has been conveyed to us clearly.

United Nations even organised a World Water Day Facebook contest for photographers on the theme of water and energy this year. The contest saw healthy participation of photographers from different corners of the world, which was won by Murli Menon, for his photograph titled ‘Water preserves the Earth’.

World Water Day is being observed at government and non-government level in many countries today. This is being done so that people really understand that water cannot be taken for granted, just as they understand that petrol in their vehicles cannot be taken for granted. One day in a matter of years, all petrol reserves that Planet Earth has, will be drilled out by the hungry man.

Water and petrol

One day in a matter of years, the point will come, when water will become the petrol of today. Water at that point will become as expensive as petrol today. There will be no free water anywhere. You will have to pay big to receive a small amount of it.

You might also have come across some media report where it was told that a water dispute broke out in some city area that took an ugly turn. Today, this dispute may be at a lower scale, tomorrow this same dispute will take on gigantic proportions.

Water facts

So here we are observing World Water Day in 2014 so that we can continue to have this valuable resource in our life for a longer time. Here is some food for thought or should I say ‘Water for thought’.

* 780 million people lack access to safe drinking water.

* In UK, 2 billion litres of water is flushed down the toilet every day.

* In Abu Dhabi, average per capita household water consumption is 3,300 litres per day; in UK it is 150 litres. To survive, a human being needs about 4 litres.

* Globally we use 2 million litres of water per second to grow food – the equivalent of 800 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

* Water covers 70% of the Earth, but only about 1% is available for human use.

Parting Question: At the very basic level, are you willing to save bare minimum water by getting that faulty, leaky tap at home, school or in your office repaired? 

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Raza likes to share snippets of his life experiences and observations through his writings. This blogpost is the Day-9 post of his 15-day trial of daily blogging. Besides his social media footprints on twitter, facebook, instagram and Google+, he can also be reached on his email: bylineraza[at]gmail[dot]com

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